Its always good to be Rod, boasted
the 59-year old Scot after opening his show with a tepid version of Forever
Young followed by a surprisingly potent Young Turks. Looking at the man,
it was hard to doubt his statement. He was in great voice, shape and spirit. The rock
legend bounded around the stage with a boyish energy, laughing and kicking customized
soccer balls to his absolutely adoring fans. Unfortunately, this show suffered from poor
pacing but as this is a brand new tour, maybe theres time for this to be worked out.
For the first half of the show, Stewart relied on the light rock side of things.
Downtown Train, The First Cut Is The Deepest, Youre In
My Heart and Some Guys Have All The Luck were among the tracks chosen.
Only later did he dig deeper for stellar versions of Ooh La La and You
Wear It Well. Rod did manage to rock a little here and there. Hot Legs,
while significantly rearranged still had a little fire but it took an even more muscular
version of Stay With Me to really get things cooking. At this point, Stewart
simply blurted out Gotta have a beer. Be back in 20 minutes. The show, just
picking up steam, never regained its momentum after the intermission.

When the curtain re-lifted, the stage had been
changed to resemble a 30s nightclub complete with an orchestra. Stewart now donned
black tie and tails and quietly crooned As Time Goes By while footage from
Casablanca flickered behind him. And thats what we got for the next hour or so. The
singer did respectful, but not particularly special interpretations of standards such as
The Way You Look Tonight, Someone To Watch Over Me and
Im In The Mood For Love. During this set, the approval seemed to be
split. Women swooned and threw bouquets of roses while the men seemed slightly horrified
at the display. Rod even did orchestral versions of some of his own hits. It made enough
sense. Tonights The Night and Have I Told You Lately fit
right in nicely. Thank God that he ditched the orchestra for the finale. Even if he did
mangle the lyrics to Maggie May (youd think after 33 years and with the
help of a teleprompter he could remember them), it felt as rocking as Metallica after the
wedding band / Vegas act. For his encores, he chose the disparate pairing of
Twistin The Night Away and Ill Be Seeing You which was
the perfect symbol of the unevenness of this show and for that matter, his entire career.

(Chris McKay / concertshots.com)

Set Two:

1. As Time Goes By
2. I'm In The Mood For Love
3. My Heart Stood Still
4. Tonight's The Night
5. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?
6. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered
7. The Way You Look Tonight
8. These Foolish Things
9. Someone To Watch Over Me
10. Pennies From Heaven
11. Maggie May
12. It Takes Two
13. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Encore:

14. Havin' A Party / Twistin' The Night Away
15. I'll Be Seeing You

Rod Stewart Set List (2-11-04)

Set One:

1. Forever Young
2. Young Turks
3. Some Guys Have All The Luck
4. This Old Heart Of Mine
5. The First Cut Is The Deepest
6. Rhythm Of My Heart
7. Downtown Train
8. Hot Legs
9. Proud Mary
10. Ooh La La
11. You Wear It Well
12. Reason To Believe
13. You're In My Heart
14. Stay With Me